The Middle Ages: Fantasy and Historical Fiction

All titles are available in the Lower School Reading Room.

Alder, Elizabeth. The King’s Shadow

After he is orphaned and has his tongue cut out in a clash with the bullying sons of a Welsh noble, Evyn is sold as a slave and serves many masters, from the gracious Lady Swan Neck to the valiant Harold Godwinson, England's last Saxon king.

Avi. Crispin: The Cross of Lead

Falsely accused of theft and murder, an orphaned peasant boy in fourteenth-century England flees his village and meets a larger-than-life juggler who holds a dangerous secret.

Barrett, Tracy. Anna of Byzantium

In the eleventh century the teenage princess Anna Comnena fights for her birthright, the throne to the Byzantine Empire, which she fears will be taken from her by her younger brother John because he is a boy.

Barron, T.A. The Lost Years of Merlin

series (includes

The Lost Years of Merlin, The Seven Songs of Merlin, The Fires of Merlin, The Mirror of Merlin,

and

The Wings of Merlin)

The childhood adventures of Merlin.

Blackwood, Gary. The Shakespeare Stealer

A young orphan boy is ordered by his master to infiltrate Shakespeare's acting troupe in order to steal the script of "Hamlet," but he discovers instead the meaning of friendship and loyalty.

Blackwood, Gary. Shakespeare’s Scribe

In plague-ridden 1602 England, a fifteen-year-old orphan boy, who has become an apprentice actor, goes on the road with Shakespeare's troupe, and finds out more about his parents along the way.

Bosse, Malcolm. Captives of Time

Orphaned by the brutal murder of their parents, Anne and her gentle but mute brother suffer great hardships as they travel across a dangerous, pestilence-ridden Europe to their uncle, an armorer and clockmaker, and, after his death, to a distant city to deliver the commissioned plans of his precious clock.

Cadnum, Michael. Forbidden Forest: The Story of Little John and Robin Hood

Profiles Little John, from his quiet life before joining Robin Hood through his adventures protecting a beautiful lady when she is wrongfully accused of murdering her husband.

Cheaney, J.B. The True Prince

Newly apprenticed to Shakespeare's theater company, Richard and Kit are drawn into a series of crimes involving the members of Queen Elizabeth's court.

Cooper, Susan. King of Shadows

While in London as part of an all-boy acting company preparing to perform in a replica of the famous Globe Theatre, Nat Field suddenly finds himself transported back to 1599 and performing in the original theater under the tutelage of Shakespeare himself.

Crossley-Holland. Arthur

trilogy

(The Seeing Stone, At the Crossing Places,

#3 not yet published)

In late twelfth-century England, a thirteen-year-old boy named Arthur recounts how Merlin gives him a magical seeing stone which shows him images of the legendary King Arthur, the events of whose life seem to have many parallels to his own. In Book 2, thirteen-year-old Arthur goes to begin his new life as squire to Lord Stephen at Holt, where crusaders ready themselves.

Cushman, Karen. Catherine, Called Birdy

The thirteen-year-old daughter of an English country knight keeps a journal in which she records the events of her life, particularly her longing for adventures beyond the usual role of women and her efforts to avoid being married off.

Cushman, Karen. Matilda Bone

Fourteen-year-old Matilda, an apprentice bonesetter and practitioner of medicine in a village in medieval England, tries to reconcile the various aspects of her life, both spiritual and practical.

Cushman, Karen The Midwife’s Apprentice

In medieval England, a nameless and homeless girl is taken in by a sharp-tempered midwife and, in spite of obstacles and hardship, eventually gains the three things she wants most in the world: enough food to eat, a contented heart, and a place in the world.

Dana, Barbara. Young Joan

Joan, a girl growing up in the French countryside during the Hundred Years' War, begins to hear voices telling her she is destined to reunite her torn country in opposition to the English invaders.

DeAngeli, Marguerite. The Door in the Wall

A crippled boy in fourteenth-century England proves his courage and earns recognition from the King.

Ellis, Anne Leo. The Dragon of Middlethorpe

When rumors of a dragon and its treasure stir up greed and fear in the medieval village of Middlethorpe, thirteen-year-old Kate is forbidden to join the dragon hunt because she is a maid, so she takes matters into her own hands.

Ellis, Deborah. A Company of Fools

Henri has been living within abbey walls all his life, first in the care of nuns, then as choirboy and scribe. When Micah arrives, his voice and presence bring a fresh breeze into dead places. Together both must learn to live through difficult times.

Fletcher, Susan. Shadow Spinner

When Marjan, a thirteen-year-old crippled girl, joins the Sultan's harem in ancient Persia, she gathers for Shahrazad the stories which will save the queen's life.

Garden, Nancy. Dove and Sword

In 1455 in France, Gabrielle is visited by Pierre d'Arc, a brother of Joan of Arc, and with him reminisces about their childhood together in Domremy and Joan's subsequent trial and burning at the stake at Rouen twenty-four years before.

Goodman, Joan Elizabeth. Peregrine

In 1144, fifteen-year-old Lady Edith, having lost her husband and child and anxious to avoid marrying a man she detests, sets out from her home in Surrey to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

Gray, Elizabeth. Adam of the Road

In thirteenth-century England an eleven-year-old boy roams the countryside as he searches for his father and his stolen dog.

Haahr, Berit. The Minstrel’s Tale

In order to avoid marrying against her will, Judith, a thirteen-year-old musician, runs away disguised as a boy, and hopes to join the King's Minstrels in fourteenth-century England.

Hawke, Simon. A Mystery of Errors

A young William Shakespeare meets up with aspiring actor Symington Smythe, and adventures ensue.

Hawke, Simon. The Slaying of the Shrew

More adventures of Will Shakespeare and Tuck Smythe.

Jacques, Brian. Redwall

When the peaceful life of ancient Redwall Abbey is shattered by the arrival of the evil rat Cluny and his villainous hordes, Matthias, a young mouse, determines to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior which, he is convinced, will help Redwall's inhabitants destroy the enemy.

Jacques, Brian. Mossflower

Martin the warrior mouse and Gonff the mousethief set out to find the missing ruler of Mossflower, while the other animal inhabitants of the woodland prepare to rebel against the evil wildcat who has seized power.

Jordan, Sherryl. The Hunting of the Last Dragon

In England in 1356, as a monk records his every word, a young peasant tells of his journey with a young Chinese noblewoman to St. Alfric's Cove and the lair of a dragon.

Kelly, Eric. The Trumpeter of Krakow

A Polish family in the Middle Ages guards a great secret treasure and a boy's memory of an earlier trumpeter of Krakow makes it possible for him to save his father.

Konigsburg, E.L. A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver

While waiting in heaven for divine judgement to be passed on her second husband, Eleanor of Aquitaine and three of the people who knew her well recall the events of her life.

Lester, Julius. Othello: A Novel

A prose retelling of Shakespeare's play in which a jealous general is duped into thinking that his wife has been unfaithful, with tragic consequences.

Levitin, Sonia. The Cure

A sixteen-year-old boy living in 2407 collides with the past when he finds himself in Strasbourg in 1348 confronting the anti-Semitism that sweeps through Europe during the Black Plague.

Malone, Patricia. The Legend of Lady Ilena

In sixth-century Great Britain, a fifteen-year-old girl seeking knowledge of her lineage is drawn into battle to defend the homeland she never knew, aided by one of King Arthur's knights.

McCaffrey, Anne. Black Horses for the King

Galwyn, son of a Roman Celt, escapes from his tyrannical uncle and joins Lord Artos, later know as King Arthur, using his talent with languages and way with horses to help secure and care for the Libyan horses that Artos hopes to use in battle against the Saxons.

McGraw, Eloise Jarvis. The Moorchild

Feeling that she is neither fully human nor "Folk," a changeling learns her true identity and attempts to find the human child whose place she had been given.

McKinley, Robin. Outlaws of Sherwood

The author retells the adventures of Robin Hood and his band of outlaws who live in Sherwood Forest in twelfth-century England.

Morris, Gerald.
The Squire’s Tale
The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady
The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf
Parsifal’s Page
The Ballad of Sir Dinadan

Funny retellings of Mallory’s Arthurian tales.

Park, Linda Sue. A Single Shard

Tree-ear, a thirteen-year-old orphan in medieval Korea, lives under a bridge in a potters' village, and longs to learn how to throw the delicate celadon ceramics himself.

Paterson, Katherine. Parzival: The Quest of the Grail Knight

A retelling of the Arthurian legend in which Parzival, unaware of his noble birth, comes of age through his quest for the Holy Grail.

Paton Walsh, Jill. A Parcel of Patterns

Mall Percival tells how the plague came to her Derbyshire village of Eyam in the year 1665, how the villagers determined to isolate themselves to prevent further spread of the disease, and how three-fourths of them died before the end of the following year.

Pattison, Darcy. The Wayfinder

Eleven-year-old Win, an apprentice Finder, must go into the mysterious Great Rift to find the Well of Life, the only hope of healing the Heartland of plague.

Pressler, Mirjam. Shylock’s Daughter

Sixteen-year-old Jessica, who longs to be free of the restrictions of her father and life in the Jewish ghetto of sixteen-century Venice, falls in love with a Christian aristocrat and must make choices which will affect her whole family. Inspired by Shakespeare's play, The merchant of Venice.

Pyle, Howard. Men of Iron

A boy's story of the time of Henry IV of England, who, with the men of his court, are "men of iron."

Richardson, Bill. After Hamelin

On her eleventh birthday, Penelope awakens to find that she is deaf, and thus cannot hear the hypnotic music of the Pied Piper as he leads the children away from Hamelin. She sets out on a journey to discover their fate, and to rescue them if she can.

Springer, Nancy. I Am Mordred: A Tale From Camelot

When Mordred learns the identity of his father, he struggles with feelings of hatred, but also fights the fate which determines that he kill the good and gracious king.

Springer, Nancy. I am Morgan le Fay: A Tale From Camelot

In a war-torn England where her half-brother Arthur will eventually become king, the young Morgan le Fay comes to realize that she has magic powers and links to the faerie world.

Springer, Nancy. Rowan Hood, Outlaw Girl of Sherwood Forest

Thirteen-year-old Rowan has a series of adventures while seeking her father, Robin Hood.

Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses

Classic adventure novel of the War of the Roses.

Sutcliffe, Rosemary. The Sword and the Circle: King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

Based chiefly on Sir Thomas Malory's Le morte d'Arthur, retells the adventures of King Arthur, Queen Guenevere, Sir Lancelot, and the other knights of the Round Table.

Sutcliffe, Rosemary. The Light Beyond the Forest: The Quest for the Holy Grail

A retelling of the adventures of King Arthur's knights, Sir Lancelot, Sir Galahad, Sir Bors, and Sir Percival, as they search for the Holy Grail.

Sutcliff, Rosemary. The Road to Camlann: The Death of King Arthur

The evil Mordred, plotting against his father King Arthur, implicates the Queen and Sir Lancelot in treachery and brings about the downfall of Camelot and the Round Table.

Temple, Frances. The Ramsay Scallop

At the turn of the fourteenth century in England, fourteen-year-old Elenor finds her betrothal to an ambitious lord's son launching her on a memorable pilgrimage to far-off Spain.

Temple, Frances. The Beduins' Gazelle

In 1302, two cousins of the nomadic Beni Khalid tribe who are betrothed become separated by political intrigue between warring tribes.

Tingle, Rebecca. The Edge of the Sword

In ninth-century Britain, fifteen-year-old Aethelflaed, daughter of King Alfred of West Saxony, finds she must assume new responsibilities much sooner than expected, when she is betrothed to Ethelred of Mercia in order to strengthen a strategic alliance against the Danes.

Wilson, Diane L. I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade

In early fourteenth-century China, Oyuna tells her granddaughter of her girlhood in Mongolia and how love for her horse enabled her to win an important race and bring good luck to her family.

Yolen, Jane. Young Merlin trilogy (Passager, Hobby, Merlin

Three novels about young Merlin.

Some annotations provided by
Library of Congress